Sirius squeezed his eyes closed as he yawned, resisting the urge to stretch his arms out wide, only because he knew that he would hit James in the face. They had woken up before the sun, which Sirius found personally offensive, and by the droopy eyed transfers surrounding him, he wasn't the only one feeling the effects.
Moony on the other hand, stood before them, leaning on a table that was covered with large guns, black and loaded. His eyes were bright, and he looked at them with amusement.
"If you lot want to get any closer to these, you'll have to wake up a bit more," he said, placing his hand on one of the guns like it was a dog. "This is your first lesson today. Learning how to shoot. Your second lesson will be learning how to fight, how to throw a good punch."
Sirius blinked, barely registering the words through the sleep haze. At that moment, he didn't think he could throw a ball, let alone a punch. The only time Sirius had punched anyone was when he was twelve years old. He was defending Regulus of course, because most of the stupid things Sirius did were for his brother.
"This marks the first stage of your training," Moony continued, "You'll begin with physical training, followed with emotional, and last of all, mental."
"Getting up at this time is mental," James murmered beside Sirius, who covered his laugh with a small cough.
"I think you'll all find physical to be the easiest of the three," Moony said, pushing himself off the table. "You might not agree with me now, but you'll be wishing you were here when you begin mental training."
Sirius ran a hand over his face, too tired to really think about what Moony's words meant.
"After each stage is finished, you all know that some of you will be cut. Which is why paying attention to every word I say James, would be useful."
James, who's head was nodding towards the ground snapped to attention immediately, looking sheepish.
"Sorry, sorry," he said, wincing.
Moony rolled his eyes, "You're about to handle a fire arm, try and act like it?"
James nodded and Sirius laughed silently, stopping when an elbow landed into his side.
* * * * * *
The unfamiliar weight of the gun in his hands was uncomfortable at first, but Sirius soon found that it rested quite nicely on his shoulder. Every time he closed one eye to shoot at the target, a thrill ran through his body, and even if he didn't hit the target, he felt powerful with the gun in his hands.
James was a natural. Of course he was. But Sirius wondered how his parents would react to seeing their son shoot something made only for the purpose of violence. Every time he sneaked a look at James' face, he only saw concentration, no guilt or hesitancy. Which he supposed was a sign that the boy really did belong in Dauntless. No amity should be able to wield a gun like it was an extension of their arm.
Sirius felt something zoom past him, and he flinched, looking to his other side and somehow not surprised to see Peter, bright red and clutching the gun to his chest.
"I'm so sorry Sirius!" he exclaimed, "I don't know what happened! I think I must've-"
"Peter calm down," Sirius said, trying to do the same to his frantically beating heart. "I'm okay. No blood no foul all right?" he said, cracking a grin that felt only a little strained.
Peter blinked, his guilty eyes wide, "Are you sure?"
Sirius laughed, "Yeah I'm sure."
The boy nodded, and Sirius turned back to his own target, aiming and shooting, his face splitting into a grin when the bullet hit the middle.
"Nice one mate!" James called out from beside him.
Sirius smiled wider, "I should be saying that to you. I mean, look at your target."
James looked at the ground, embarrassed. Almost all of the holes littering the target were focused in the centre.
"I'm just getting lucky-"
Sirius rolled his eyes, "Don't insult my intelligence."
James was about to speak, when Peter suddenly appeared next to Sirius, "Do you reckon one of you could help me?" the shorter boy pleaded, the gun looking so out of place in his hands that it was almost funny. "I really haven't got the gist of it yet."
James and Sirius shared a secret glance, and Sirius was struck by a sudden pang of gratefulness that he had found a real friend. After years of having to pretend to enjoy the company of absolute arseholes, he finally had a real friend.
"Why don't you ask Moony for help Pete?" James suggested, "That's what he's here for."
"What am I here for?"
Sirius almost jumped as Moony seemed to materialise beside him.
"Peter wants some help," Sirius said, "With the um-" his eyes were so golden, it didn't make sense. "With his gun."
Moony turned to Peter, and Sirius felt a stupid sense of relief not to have those eyes on him anymore. Turning to James, he saw the boy wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, and had to refrain from shooting him.
* * * * * *
The dining room was packed for lunch, and Sirius found himself sitting at the same table as dinner the previous night, with one extra instalment to their little group.
"What did you say your name was?" Sirius asked.
"Marlene," the girl said.
Her blond hair was braided, but Sirius could tell that it was on the shorter side. Her fringe almost covered her bright eyes. She had two dimples when she smiled, which was most of the time.
"I know you!" James exclaimed suddenly, banging his fork on the table. "You're that Candor girl that called out to Mr Hart when you caught that kid cheating!"
Marlene grinned and stuck her chin in the air, "So? I shouldn't report unlawful behaviour?"
Sirius snorted, "Unlawful-"
"He was cheating!" Marlene exclaimed, "I was supposed to do nothing?"
"That's such a Candor thing to do," Sirius said, "Yell out in the middle of a test 'Oi! This kid has his nose in someone else's paper!'"
The table laughed, and Marlene went bright red, although the smile stayed stubbornly on her face. The rush of joy at making so many people laugh effected Sirius much more than it should have, making him want to stand on the table and dance.
"Why'd you all leave then?" Marlene asked, "If there's one thing we can agree on, it's that we didn't fit into our factions."
Sirius almost laughed at how she put it. 'Didn't fit in' felt like the understatement of the century.
"I left," James started, "Because I want to do something to help this city. I want to keep it safe, and I couldn't really manage that on a farm."
"Tell me James," Lily said.
At once, James' attention was on the red haired girl, "Yeah?" he asked, "Anything, what is it?"
Sirius glanced at Marlene, who was looking between the two of them like she wanted to either laugh or run away.
Sirius nudged her, whispering in her ear, "Better get used to it I reckon. He's totally smitten."
He pulled away and Marlene let out a tiny snigger, covering her mouth with her hand.
On the other side of the table, Lily smirked at James, "Do you sing? Or play an instrument like...oh I don't know, the banjo?"
That was Sirius' last straw. He burst out laughing, ignoring the murderous glare from James and a few confused glances from around the room.
"Well?" Sirius said, gasping, "Answer the lady's question James."
James turned to Lily, "I'll sing to you, if you want me to?"
Lily looked like she was trying not to laugh, and Sirius had to feel a little sorry for James.
"I think I'll pass," she said, "I'm sure Sirius would enjoy being serenaded though."
Sirius nodded enthusiastically, "Sing to me James!" he exclaimed, "Sing me to sleep tonight with your low, sensuous, euphonious-"
James reached across the table, snatching at Sirius, who yelped and dodged his hands.
"You don't even know what those words mean!" James said, crossing his arms sulkily.
"You mean you don't know what they mean," Sirius said, "I happen to own five copies of the dictionary."
"What?" Marlene said, "For some light reading?"
Sirius nodded, "Yep, sends me right off to sleep."
"You mean you had five copies of the dictionary," Peter cut in, pushing his lunch around his plate, "You're not in Erudite anymore."
Sirius froze, the carefree feeling leaking out of him like someone had pulled the plug, sending it right down the drain. He found that he definitely could've gone without the mention of Erudite for the rest of the day. For the rest of the year.
"He knows Pete!" James said, nudging the boy's shoulder, but even Sirius could tell his smile was forced.
"What's so bad about Erudite?" Marlene asked around a bite of her sandwich, "I don't get it."
"They've released some articles," Lily said, her voice softer and more hesitant than Sirius had ever heard it, "about Abnegation, my old faction. Saying some really nasty things. Untrue things."
Marlene blinked, "Oh. That's a bit shit of them."
Sirius barked out a surprised laugh, "That's most of Erudite for you. Shitty."
* * * * * *
Sirius' second time in the training room was better than his first now that he was awake, and his stomach was filled with lunch. There was a new addition to the room this time, a large green chalk board, with their names written in alphabetical order. Emmaline was written at the top, followed by Evan.
Moony stood in front of the board. He wore a short sleeved black shirt, black boots covered his feet. Sirius liked them.
"Like I said this morning," Moony said, "Next you'll learn how to fight. You'll all be practicing on the punching bags around the room."
He went on to explain different punches and kicks, eventually demonstrating on one of the punching bags. Sirius watched reverently as the boy moved like water, fluidly and precisely, his gaze narrowed and his aim perfect. Every single time.
When they split off, Sirius found that he enjoyed hitting things better than shooting things. A punching bag was easier to picture as Avery than a target was. Twenty minutes in, and his knuckles were red and aching, and he was pretty sure he would have an impressive bruise on his leg. He had taken his ring off before he started, not wanting to damage it. He could feel it in his pocket, seeming to weigh a ton.
"You're short," came a voice from behind him.
Sirius turned to see Moony studying him, his arms crossed.
"Uh..." Sirius said, "Okay?"
The boy began walking forward, "You're short, so the things your practicing won't be much use." He placed his hand on Sirius' hip and Sirius sucked in a breath. His hand was warm, almost hot, Sirius could heel it burning into his skin like a brand. "You need to keep your weight balanced here," he said quietly, "Strike quickly and efficiently. Go for the legs or the face. You can use speed to win a fight."
His fingers lingered a little as he let go, "No one should underestimate you because of your height," he said, "But lot of people will," he quirked his head to the side smiling a bit, "Use it to your advantage."
He walked away, and Sirius stared after him like an idiot. Like a dog. Like an idiotic dog.
"Alright there mate?" James called out from a few meters away, sweat dripping down his face.
Sirius blinked, "Yeah, just having a bit of a breather."
James ran a hand through his hair, sweat flicking into the air. He put two thumbs up and turned back to his punching bag, hitting it hard.
Later, when they were released for dinner, James ran to catch up with Sirius.
"You okay?" he asked, "You seemed a bit off after Moony talked to you. He didn't say anything did he?"
Sirius shook his head, "Nah, nothing like that. Don't worry about it."
James nodded, though he pursed his lips together.
"Hey!" a voice behind them called. Sirius turned. It was Marlene, her hair partly coming out of her braids, "You know what we should do?" she asked, running up to Sirius and James, Lily and Peter not too far behind them.
Sirius shook his head, "I'm not jumping off anything."
"Not anything like that," Marlene said, "We should get tattoos!"
"Tattoos?" Peter asked, catching up to them at last. "But that's like, permanent."
Sirius thought back to the crowds of Dauntless, ink covering their arms and legs, even their faces. He thought of his Mother's face if she saw him with a tattoo.
He wanted a tattoo.
"Let's do it," Sirius said, "It'll be fun."
"But what'll we get?" Lily asked, chewing on her lip nervously as they walked towards the Pit.
James shrugged, "Something small? Or you can get a piercing?"
Marlene jumped at the idea. "Yeah!" she exclaimed, "I'll get both."
Peter cleared his throat, "Won't that hurt. Like, a lot?"
Marlene grinned, "I can handle it."
Sirius didn't have a doubt that she could.
They arrived at the Pit, which was buzzing with noise and people. A clothing store caught Marlene's eye at once.
"Lily please let me style you," she said, grabbing Lily's hand.
The girl only looked hesitant for a moment, "Fine, but Sirius can come too."
Sirius grinned, "Fine by me. James, Pete, we'll meet you at the tattoo place."
Pete grinned, excited to have James all to himself.
"Alright," James said, "Don't get into any trouble though."
Marlene rolled her eyes, dragging Sirius and Lily by their arms into the small shop.
Sirius sat on a small stool, watching as Marlene dressed and redressed Lily. Sirius could see why James liked her. She was quite pretty, with her long red hair and startlingly green eyes. The girls were standing in front of the long mirror, Lily smiling and Marlene laughing. Lily was wearing black pants and a top that cropped above her waist. She looked different, more confident.
The next minute, Marlene had rounded on him with a black eyeliner pencil and Sirius was trying to stay very still.
"You're eyes are the weirdest grey colour," Marlene said, moving onto his other eye, "This'll just kinda," she waved her hands around, searching for the word. Sirius had to dodge the pencil. "Bring them out more. Know what I mean?"
Sirius nodded as she moved back, looking at himself in the mirror. She was right, the black around his eyes made them look more grey, more mysterious. He liked it.
"Thanks Marlene," he said, "You're good at that."
Marlene grinned, "You think? Come one. We need to make sure James hasn't tattooed himself somewhere stupid."
When they reach the parlour, James was already on a chair, gritting his teeth as a man bent over his arm, inking a small tree on James' wrist, the roots curling around his hand. The Amity tree, Sirius realised.
He turned around only to realise that Lily and Marlene had disappeared. Sirius sighed and walked through the shop, admiring the art on the walls, and catching a glimpse of Marlene getting her nose pierced.
"It's called a septum piercing," a voice said from behind him, "Cool right?"
He turned and blinked when he saw Andy standing right there. It was like he was back in the aptitude testing room.
"Andy," he said. "I didn't know you worked here."
She smiled, "I like stabbing people with needles, what can I say?"
Sirius knew he was supposed to laugh, but the sight of Andy brought back problems that he had temporarily forgotten.
"I need to talk to you," he said quickly. "About...y'know."
She frowned, "I'm not sure that's a good idea Sirius," she said, "Dauntless is very good at listening."
Something about the way she said that sentence made chills travel down Sirius' spine. He needed answers, she knew that.
"Want a tattoo?" she asked suddenly.
Sirius thought for a moment, spinning his ring around on his finger. Then the thought hit him. He took the ring off, running his finger over the magpie engraved on it. He gave it to Andy, who's eyes widened in surprise.
"Is this..." she trailed off.
"Yeah," Sirius said, "Reckon you could tattoo the magpie on my back?"
She laughed suddenly, "You sure?"
Sirius nodded, only regretting the decision a little later when he was laying on his stomach, the magpie with its wings outspread on his back. Only because of the pain though. The tattoo couldn't be more fitting. The magpie was taking flight, and so was he.